See periodic in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Synonyms
periodic sporadic intermittent occasional fitful
These adjectives all mean recurring or reappearing now and then. Something periodic occurs at regular or at least generally predictable intervals: periodic feelings of anxiety.
Sporadic implies scattered, irregular, unpredictable, or isolated instances: sporadic bombing raids.
Intermittent describes something that stops and starts at intervals: intermittent rain showers.
What is occasional happens at random and irregularly: occasional outbursts of temper.
Something fitful occurs in spells and often abruptly: fitful bursts of energy.
See periodic in Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus II
adjective
Happening or appearing at regular intervals:
cyclic, cyclical, isochronal, isochronous, periodical, recurrent. Idiom: like clockwork. See repetitionHappening or appearing now and then:
fitful, intermittent, occasional, periodical, sporadic. (Informal) on-again, off-again. See continue
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